after all, when you're going the distance, it's nice to have the experience and commitment to go along with you. keep dreaming. keep doing. go long. free streaming quotes, all your investments, positions, and even your trade ticket are all on one customizable page. see the 360 investing dashboard at e-trade. good morning. i'm chris jansing. with the confetti bare lly clead up from his election victory, president obama is already working on the next looming crisis. he's been working the phone to reach out to congressional leaders to talk about the plan dealing with the fiscal cliff, those severe cuts and tax increases that will automatically go into effect at the end of the year. speaker of the house john boehner opened the door

yesterday to getting the deal done and striking a more conciliatory tone. >> mr. president, this is your moment. we're ready to be led, not as democrats or republicans, but as americans. we want you to lead, not as a liberal or a conservative, but as president of the united states of america. we want you to succeed. let's challenge ourselves to find the common ground that has eluded us. let's rise above the dysfunction and do the right thing together for our country. >> meantime, senate majority leader harry reid said he is open to working together too, but there was a but. >> i'm going to do everything within my power to be as conciliatory as possible. i want to work together. but i want everyone to also understand you can't push us around. we want to work together. >> let me bring in legendary investigative journalist carl bernstein and political reporter

for "the washington post" nia ma malika henderson. good morning to you. everybody is sounding cordial, but we still have the same players. has anything changed, carl? >> i think this is a huge change election in terms of certainly things i did not foresee in terms of the agenda, gay rights, the agenda of women unencumbered by the so-called social conservatism that has dominated our politics and slowed down legislative achievements as hostage over the past four, five, six years. that's over. i think that now the congress is finally free to work with some real leadership from the president, from the two parties. i'm an optimist for the first time in years. i think that the fiscal cliff will be met. i think they're going to come together with an agreement. i think that this enables, one, some democrats to acknowledge that entitlements need some

changing, and at the same time, you bring about a real new tax structure that includes some tax increases, and republicans are going to have to go along with it. whether it's going to be a short-term fix and then go to a major budget deal, that will be up to the president and the negotiators, which method of going about it they take. i think there's real reason for optimism here, and it's even possible that we could see in this presidency, depending on how republicans react in terms of whether they want to be around as a really loyal opposition party with a chance of a real future given the changing electorate. there's a chance that we could maybe have a cease fire in the cultural wars over time. that would free our political system. and i think obama is the kind of big picture guy that now might see that insight.

i realize this is a very pol pollyanna-ish statement. >> that was the exact word i was going to use, carl. >> i think the message of this election is that the real rejection of republican scorched earth politics of the last generation has occurred. if you also look at the exit poll numbers on issues, you see the number of same-sex marriage votes in the states. you see what happened throughout this election, and you look at the exit poll numbers on individual questions, you see a consensus that is against the reigning radical republicanism. i wrote a piece in the daily beast last week about the reigning radical republican party in washington. i think that party is going to self-deport. >> let's look at the exit polls because i think there's one clear thing that came out of that, nia malika, which is this.

that is that americans seem to want taxes to go up on the wealthy. that's what they're looking at. 47% say they want them to go up on people who make $250,000 or more. 13% for all. so there where you add those two numbers, a majority. >> 60%, big majority. >> let me go and play a little more of the president's victory speech. >> and in the coming weeks and months, i am looking forward to reaching out and working with leaders of both parties to meet the challenges we can only solve together. reducing our deficit, reform, our tax code. >> so nia malika, how does the president move? what's his next move to get the deal done? how does he leverage the exit polls and the results of this election? >> i think the best news he's had so far is the change of tone from john boehner. remember two years ago john boehner was trumpeting the tea party. this was the movement that swept

him into power in 2010, those midterms. now you hear him singing a very different tune, a very different tune than mitch mcconnell four years ago, pledging his only responsibility, job number one, was to see this was a one-term president. so that's some groundwork for the president also, where he's got a playing field that will be much more easier for him to reach out. again, i think he initially saw this campaign as a referendum on the way that republicans governed. if you look at those exit polls, it does show that there is support for the way the president wants to reform the tax code, raising taxes on the middle class, having those bush tax cuts expire. so there is some momentum that he has. it's not a clear, clear mandate because the popular vote, i think, was so close, but on that electoral map, it was a real walloping for republicans and the way that they have governed and the way they have gone about approaching very important issues. this is a big, big time. i agree with carl. this was a referendum on progressive ideas.

i think it's a real victory for progressives. you see 20 women going into the senate, all of those issues around abortion are very, very played very highly in this campaign. now you go to these very hard issues around social security, around entitlement reform. i think the president has got some wind at his back, and he's got republicans who seem to be willing to work with him. >> let me add one thing, if i may. >> let me bring in congressman adam schiff, a blue dog democrat from california. congratulations on your election and re-election. it's good to see you. let me ask you about the fiscal cliff. are you encouraged by what you heard from john boehner? >> i'm encouraged. i don't think there's any way we can go over the cliff. we can't afford to. i am encouraged by what i heard the speaker said. the only thing that struck me funny in how he expressed himself is in talking about this being the president's moment, that this was basically his responsibility. this is a shared responsibility, both house and senate leadership

and the white house are going to have to come together. both parties are going to have to come together. these problems are simply too large for either party to solve alone. plainly, that's what the country wants us to do. >> you heard one of the things that speaker boehner did was he shot shouted out to the president this is your moment. let me read to you what gale collins said today. "in the past when these things came up, the president's failing was his inability to hide his contempt for many of the people that occupy capitol hill. now is a new day, and he needs to be so perpetually and visibly available that the negotiators beg to be left alone." does he invite everybody to camp david, invite everybody to the white house, deliver pizza to capitol hill? what is your suggestion? >> i'd certainly enjoy the pizza. i think the white house is going to have to engage quite dramatically on this and spend a lot of time with congressional leaders. but one thing that will

facilitate that is, to the extent the gop leadership had up until now as a primary motivation stopping this president, denying this president a second term, that's no longer an issue. there's no longer a downside in working with the president. that will facilitate things greatly. we are also under great time pressure, and i agree completely with senator reid that we shouldn't kick this can down the road anymore. we've been kicking it down the road for years. it's bad for the economy. it's bad for the country. i'm also optimistic because, when you look at what this country has, we have the same bright, talented people we've always had. we have the same great natural resources and history and ideals and values to lead for another generation, another century or many centuries. we have to get our governance together, and i think that's what the american people are saying, and i think on the signature question in terms of the fiscal reforms, the american people have spoken that they do concur with a balanced approach that includes new revenues as

well as spending cuts. >> question to the congressman, if i may. i've always thought and heard from people in his cabinet and his office of management and budget people that this president has always wanted real entitlement reform. he believes in it. have i heard wrong or right on this? obviously, he wants revenue raising at the same time, but i think that he really understands that social security and medicare do need to be reformed in a way that, yes, it has to be politically acceptable within reason to seniors, but there has to be some real reform of the numbers. >> i think you're right, that this is a president who's always taken a look at the big picture and the big challenges and hasn't shied away from wanting to confront those challenges. at the same time, i think the president recognizes that our immediate fiscal problems weren't created by social security. they haven't been created by medicare. and we need to focus on the most

immediate problems to avoid going over this cliff. but there are long-term challenges facing social security and medicare, and in particular, long-term challenges facing our ever-increasing health care costs. >> that's what i was speaking of specifically. >> and i think that the whole focus that he has had on reforming health care is vital to the long-term health of medicare and medicaid because, unless we can control the overall costs dealing with the challenges to this program, it would be impossible. >> i like to see you all being optimistic. the value of this election, for as good as it was, and surprisingly good for a lot of people, blue dogs lost seats. while the democrats did very well in the north and the south, a lot of conservatives dug in. in fact, all 87 super conservatives elected in 2010 are coming back. so if it's the fringes of the party torpedoing this deal, nia-malika, how does it get

done? >> this the challenge that boehner faces. that's why it's so interesting to hear him change his tone. i do think there was -- if you look at the election, you can see from the poll returns that the president has got some momentum. that at least the people agree with what he wants to do in terms of tax reform. he will likely, i'm sure, not only reach out across the aisle but reach out to americans. that's something he's always done, going across the country and jimmying up support for what he sees should happen in terms of these big ticket deals. i think both of these men, boehner, all these men, reid, who are in control are looking at their legacies. they want to get something done. they look at these polls which show that the american people do not hold congress in high regard. they would like to reverse that. they want to have something on their records that speaks to big things. this is a big country. we do big things. we are big ideas centered, and i think that's what they're going to have in mind when they go and look at handling these big problems.

>> john boehner has been liberateded by th eby this elec. he can now really be the leader of the house. he doesn't have to worry about eric cantor nipping at his heels quite as much because the eric cantor wing of the party, if the party decides to go the way of eric cantor, they are going to self-deport. there are people in the republican party i think who at least, whether it's jeb bush, bobby jindal, a whole bunch of people who are going to get up and say gradually over the next four years, look, we have to become a fiscally conservative party, yes, but a socially responsible modern party that understands the demographics and social realities of this country and, quite honestly, that are so-called base and fringe way off there, way out there, they're going to have to be

marginalized, or we're going to commit a kind of political suicide here. >> the other point i would make is that, while certainly there are many conservatives that held on because they were strengthened in redistricting in the house, the story of the senate was the rejection of these hard-core right candidates. the fact that the republican party didn't go with the dick lugars of the senate. they went with the mourdocks and the akins, i think really the story of the senate was the rejection of those hard-core ideologues and the need to return to more pragmatic elected officials. >> congressman adam schiff, good to have you on the program. carl, nia-malika, thanks to you. these pictures say it all. some of the hurricane sandy victims still dealing with damage to their homes are being walloped with a nor'easter. it brought wind, snow, and rain to parts of new jersey, connecticut, and new york yesterday. at least 60,000 people who lost

power after sandy lost it again when this new storm hit. one part of new jersey got a foot of snow. we've all had those moments. when you lost the thing you can't believe you lost. when what you just bought, just broke. or when you have a little trouble a long way from home... as an american express cardmember you can expect some help. but what you might not expect, is you can get all this with a prepaid card. spends like cash. feels like membership. but between check-ups tartar builds. keep it clean with new listerine® ultraclean™. it's the only mouthwash with a new tartar control formula for a dentist clean feeling. ahhhhhhhh. [ male announcer ] new listerine® ultraclean™. power to your mouth™.

this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just have to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy

[ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

the u.s. senate will soon have the largest number of women members ever. 20 in all, including 5 new women elected on tuesday night. >> this victory belongs to you. you did this. >> i thank each of you for placing your trust in me. i will not let you down. >> i want you to know that i will stand up for you, and i ask you to work with me. >> we said in the very beginning that this was going to be an election and not an auction. guess what we had tonight? we had an election. >> joining me now, republican senator kay bailey hutchinson of

texas and former senator from arkansas. good to see both of you. senator hutchison, you were the first woman elected to the senate from texas. you know a little bit about being a ground breaker. is this going to change the way things get done, what gets done? >> women in the senate have gotten very close. we are friends. we represent our states. we don't lobby each other on specific issues, but we do know how to come together to get something done. the women who are both the democrat and the republican who are chairs and ranking members of the appropriations committees, for instance, our bills are done because we make our deals, we work with the priorities that we have, and we go forward. i think having 20 will be amazing. we have 17 now. we had 9 when i came. >> nine, wow. so more than double. >> so we share personal stories. so we know each other personally, but it's working

together, making things happen, but not ever compromising principles. >> senator lincoln, one of the first things i heard -- and maybe it's a stereotype -- but it's that women are better at compromise. they know how to get things done. do you think this is going to change how legislation, for example, is prioritized and how it gets worked through? >> i think what women are really good at is building consensus and delegating what needs to get done. i think that's important. in terms of compromising, i think it's really more consensus building. it was a privilege to serve with kay. she was a wonderful member from texas and did so many great things. she's exactly right. the women, we built friendships. our friendships were built around our liveses, our children, a whole host of different things so that we really did understand one another, and we were willing to work together. but most of all, respect one another, and that's the real key. in order to rise above your

differences, you have to be able to respect others for the fact that they do have a difference of opinion. so i think that that's important. without a doubt, i think building consensus and delegating and coming to agreement, as kay has said, to get the job done. and i think having 20 women senators is going to be a wonderful addition to the senate and be very, very helpful in getting things done. >> one of the differences in this election clearly was the position that parties had on women, and democrats successfully coined the term war on women in early 2011 after republicans took control of the house and voted on several anti-abortion measures. there were also controversial comments about rape made by male republican senate candidates. take a listen to senator patty murray. she is chairwoman of the democratic senatorial campaign committee, on "andrea mitchell reports." >> i think it's a combination of women who are paying attention to whether or not government is going to make critical decisions about their own health care and the economic impact of that.

>> president obama, senator, beat mitt romney by 11 points among women. where does the relationship, you think, between the republican party and women stand? and do you think having more women in the senate will change that dynamic and the way those policies are looked at? >> i think that republicans need to have some takeaways from this election, as do democrats. i think everyone got the message that we want to get things done. i think that women have the capability to contribute to that, but i also think that republicans are going to have to show that there is a caring about the issues that face women. we know the issues that are faced by women, for instance, whose kids can't get job after they graduate from college so they're back home, or they're working two jobs to be able to support their children. those are the economic issues that we've talked about but not in maybe the terms that show that we know how hard it is,

that we care very much that there is an economic opportunity, and that's what our focus should be. that's where our strong suit is. >> it's never easy to be a freshman as a member of congress, the lower or the upper house, senator lincoln. and certainly not a woman in the senate. if these five new women senators were to come to you and ask you about the challenges that are unique to being a woman in the senate, what would you say to them? >> well, having served in the house and being pregnant in the house, which was a novelty over there, myself and susan molinari were the first over there, i think, to be pregnant, and being the youngest woman in the history of our country to ever serve in the u.s. senate, by age was as much of an issue as my gender was. but because of my age and my gender, i think there were things i brought to our working situation. kay had young children as well. those were things, i think, for our colleagues was a little bit of a novelty. so women do bring some of that

novelty to the workplace, and that's important because it's reflective of what women, working women all across this country are going through and what they are balancing. but i think really the issue in this campaign was about jobs. women want -- they want to make sure that their issues are out there, and they want to know that politicians and elected officials are sensitive to their specific issues like health care and others, but jobs are critical and the economy is as well. women are mostly caregivers. so you're talking about social security and medicare. some of these programs that are incredibly important. women live longer than men, so the value of social security is critical to them, and their health care as they outlive their husbands. there's so many issues where women can really play a role, and i would say to those new five women, bring your experiences to the table. make sure that you've got a place at that table, and be sure and share them with others because it makes a big

difference in the outcome of very critical legislation. >> if i could jump in, i think blanche is absolutely right. the experiences that women have should be part of any kind of law that is passed. when i came to the senate, i'd had the experience of not being able to contribute to the i.r.a. that i had started when i was single and working because i wasn't employed at the time. and with blanche's help and barbara mcculskey, we were able to co-sponsor the i.r.a. bill and even the playing field so women could stay home and raise their children and still have retirement savings. men weren't against it. they just never had that experience. it really brings something to the table. >> you're both making me feel so optimistic. we had an optimistic first segment. now this. fantastic to have you here in person. thank you so much, senator kay bailey hutchison. former senator blanche lincoln,

thank you so much. >> great to be with you. so proud of kay. >> thank you, blanche. today former congresswoman gabby giffords is expected to come face to face with the man who tried to kill her. jared loughner will be sentenced in a deal that gives him life in prison without parole instead of the death penalty for the mass shooting that left six people dead almost two years ago. several victims, including giffords along with her husband, have said they will be at the hearing. three say they will speak before the judge. [ male announcer ] imagine facing the day

with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing skin or eyes. tell your doctor about all your medicines, including those for migraine

and while on cymbalta, call right away if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles or serious allergic skin reactions like blisters, peeling rash, hives, or mouth sores to address possible life-threatening conditions. talk about your alcohol use, liver disease and before you reduce or stop cymbaa.lt dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you with less pain. cymbalta can help. go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. to politics now, where we still don't know who won florida. too close to call for either mitt romney or president obama right now. absentee ballots are still being counted in six counties. saturday, november 10th, is the deadline, the fourth day after a general election, to report the numbers. election officials blame the delay on a long ballot there, 11 constitutional amendment questions, and officials have promised to get it right the next time.

>> and to those who got discouraged and left without voting, moving forward, i will do whatever it takes to ensure that this does not happen again in lee county. >> vice president joe biden will appear on next week's episode of "parks and recreation" on our sister network nbc. amy poehler's character leslie knope apparently loses control during their meeting, according to "entertainment weekly." and a mother who gave birth in kenya decided to name her newborn twins barack obama and mitt romney. the first one was barack, and the second is baby mitt. they are both adorable. if you read one thing, this is a breakthrough election for women. my must read is about a 9-year-old football player, a girl who has a highlight reel you have to see to believe. she is so fast. it's up on our facebook page at facebook/jansingco.

how? cdw and hp networking implemented a virtual application network that reduces the time to deploy cloud applications from months to minutes. with fewer bottlenecks like this. finally. charles! client golf. aim for the lake. really? i just finished a bowl of your new light chicken pot pie soup and it's so rich and creamy... is it really 100 calories? let me put you on webcan... ...lean roasted chicken... and a creamy broth mmm i can still see you. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

republicans are still licking their wounds this morning, playing the blame game and trying to figure out what's the next step after they failed to win the white house or make gains in either the house or senate. >> i think it's going to be a circular firing squad for the next six months in the republican party. if the republican party were a business, you would say that they have a flaw ed business model for the future. >> let's bring in republican strategist john fieri, the former communications director for congressman dennis hastert and former john edwards communications director. good morning, guys. hope you got a little sleep. >> good morning. >> john, do republicans have a flawed business model? if so, what's the biggest flaw, and how do they fix it? >> they have to use this election and look at the bright side. it's a good time to regroup. it's a good time to renew what they want to do. it's a good time to take a look at the whole apparatus of the

republican party. they spent way too much money on these super pac ads that moved no needles anywhere. and didn't have a great operation to turn out the vote. we had less voters than last timt, and that's not doo doable for the future. and we have a demographic problem. if we don't fix the demographic problem where we get so much of the white vote but so little of anybody else. we've got to start doing it today. >> you talked about money. let's start there. spent more than $2 billion on this race. when you break out the spending per electoral vote. look at iowa, $12.3 million per electoral vote, chris. was a lot of money wasted? >> well, it just proves money can't buy love. i mean, at the end of the day, it's really that simple. this, i think, is the mistake. >> i have so many things i can say about that, but every last one would get me into trouble. >> this is, i think, the reality.

you can't, in a situation like iowa or other states, go into and think that you can spend so much money that you're going to win voters. it just doesn't happen that way. i think this is the mistake that the republicans made. they thought through superpacs, through their campaign, they thought they could go in and gain an advantage. if you look at some of the news reports, what's fascinating is the romney campaign was actually broke after the primaries and gave the president and his campaign about a two-month window there where they had the advantage. so not only was there too much money spent, i think, poorly, the money that was spent wasn't spent smartly. that, i think, is the major problem. i think both campaigns had a very different strategy, and the republicans' one was flawed from the start. >> that's an interesting point about how much of this was strategically bad moves. rnc chairman haley barbour personally blames romney's loss on negative ads, and a lot of people suggested they let the

democrats define him and that that was a mistake on behalf of the romney campaign. but haley barbour also, and we heard this suggested before, blamed mother nature. take a look. >> hurricane sandy save d barac obama's presidency. it broke the momentum that romney had coming in the end of october. >> i don't know, john. did luck have something to do with this? did chris christie have something to do with this? did bad strategic decisions and how and when they spent this money have something to do with romney's loss? >> what happened there, what hurricane sandy did was take away the one path that mitt romney had to victory. the bigger problem for mitt romney was a bigger demographic problem where he could only narrowly get through these states, and everything had to go right for mitt romney. the problem for republicans is they have to come up with a broader based strategy so they are competing in more states. it's not just about sandy. it's how do we impact the bigger

demographics? is how do we have a better discussion? strategically, yeah, they had problems early on where they let the obama campaign define it. as chris and i talked about in the green room, earned media really captured this. if you don't get the earned media award and create events that make you look like a leader, you're not going to do well in a presidential campaign. >> chris, here's a question that you didn't ever think you'd get asked. go inside karl rove's brain. american crossroads poured $100 million into this campaign. and he's going to hold a conference call with wealthy voters who undoubtedly are going to be asking, what did you do with my money? i think this morning the suggestion was made by michael isikoff it had about a 1% return. what do you say to them? >> i was able to expand my house nicely and buy a lot of cars. in all seriousness, it was $105

million was the amount. this is the problem i have with what barbour said about hurricane sandy. if the republicans believe they lost because of a hurricane. they don't understand they lost because of a demographic hurricane. you cannot lose african-americans in the percentage they did, hispanics by the percentage they did, women by the percentages they did, young people by the percentages they did, and think you can be a national party. and on top of that, i want to leave you with this. leave you with an important fact that was stunning to me. mitt romney got fewer votes than john mccain. when i saw that and looked at the numbers last night, i could not believe it. that tells you, i think, that he had not only problems expanding his reach to key demographics but even within his own party. that is not a candidate that can win. >> can i jump in with chris real quick. not only did mitt romney have less votes than john mccain, barack obama had way less votes than barack obama had, and that's because these campaign commercials turned off the american people. they went on and on and on. they defined both candidates

badly, and they did not have a positive discussion about the future. and both the american people, i think, were sick and tired of all politicians by the end of this campaign. >> we'll see if anybody thinks they should do things differently now. gentlemen, it's great to see you again. also making news this morning, the director of new york's office of emergency management has been fired for misusing emergency workers during hurricane sandy. governor andrew cuomo dismissed steven kuhr after learning he ordered a crew to remove a tree from his driveway on long island when they were supposed to be working to help with sandy recovery in an area where, by the way, 2,000 homes are still without power today. sandy is playing havoc with labor department numbers for unemployment benefits. the department says applications dropped by 8,000 last week. they went down in one state because power outages stopped some filings but went up in some places because the storm put people temporarily out of work. and trying to rebound today

are the stocks after the market's worst day all year. mandy is here with moving your money. how are we looking the first hour of trading? >> we're looking pretty lackluster. we're coming off the largest drops in a year just yesterday on a whole mix of things probably keeping the markets back. for one, the election is over. investors have to come to grips with a divided government that needs to get down to business to avoid the massive tax increases and spending cuts. you've got european worries returning to the fore, and also the big winning stocks of this year have been dumped. so investors can basically avoid an expected big jump in capital gains and dividend taxes. none of these issues are going to be cleared up today. you've clearly got some lackluster trading today as well. >> cnbc's mandy drury. thank you so much, mandy. a lot of people trying to fly this holiday season, but the airfares are so expensive. if you decide to rent a car instead or at the airport, here's the ranking of customer satisfaction for rental car

companies. number four, hertz. number three, alamo. national comes in at number two. and the number one in customer satisfaction, enterprise. [ male announcer ] marie callender's puts everything you've grown to love about sunday dinner into each of her pot pies. tender white meat chicken and vegetables in a crust made from scratch. marie callender's. it's time to savor. now is a good time to think about your options. are you looking for a plan that really meets your needs and your budget? as you probably know, medicare only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. call today to request

a free decision guide to help you better understand medicare and which aarp medicare supplement plan works best for you. with this type of plan, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients... plus, there are no networks, and you'll never need a referral to see a specialist. there's a range of plans to choose from, too. and they all travel with you. anywhere in the country. join the millions who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations... and provided by unitedhealthcare insurance company, which has over 30 years of experience behind it. call today. remember, all medicare supplement plans help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay -- expenses that could really add up. these kinds of plans could save you

in out-of-pocket medical costs. you'll be able to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. and you never need referrals. if you're thinking about your options, call today. when you call, request your free decision guide. and find the aarp medicare supplement plan that may be right for you.

new numbers show a growing gap between republicans and latino voters. in 2004, president bush got 40% of the latino vote, john mccain 31%. this year mitt romney got 27%. in fact, since '92 the percentage of white voters has decreased from 87% to 72%. while at the same time, the percentage of latino voters has steadily grown from 2% to 10%. joining me nbc latino contributor, who is also a fellow at university of texas. and msnbc contributor goldie taylor, who is managing editor of the goldie taylor project. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> if mitt romney had gotten the same percentage of the latino vote as john mccain, he would be

president-elect this morning. victoria, what happened? >> a number of things happened. what happened with the gop is that there wasn't enough outreach to the latino community, and that is based on the lack of ideological and policy similarity. let's start with immigration. we're always talking about immigration. the republican party decided to take a very hard line against immigration early on in the campaign season. we saw from a recent latino decisions poll that the republican party in 2012 had taken the approach that george bush did in 2000 and 2004, advocating for comprehensive immigration reform, 30% more latinos would have voted for the republican candidate. the second is economy. we know that latinos prefer a more active government, and that just was not meshing with the line of the republican party. and finally the emotion of it. there was a lot of hurt with the latino community in terms of vocabulary such as self-deportation and illegals, and let's build more walls. it was a combination of factors

that alienated the latino community, the furthest we've seen because, chris, while there's the 27% figure that other exit polls give, within latino decisions, our election poll found only a 23% rate of support for mitt romney among latinos. >> that would be astonishing. either number, goldie, is not good news for the republican party. can they fix this? >> i'm not sure they can, at least immediately. if you look back to the post-civil rights era in this country where african-americans, per se, were voting for republicans for nearly 100 years lock, stock, and barrel. and then you had a southern strategy take place where they were counting on white voters to hold together their coalition into the future. it was short-sighted. what they didn't think about then was this country was going to be growing in ways they could not predict, there were going to be many more hispanic voters in this country, there were going to be many more african-americans now a part of the process, and that was going to expand the electorate in ways that made the politics, the traditional politics just not

relevant anymore. will they be able to fix this going forward? they can. they can adopt more reasonable modernized platforms that reach out to this community, these communities in meaningful ways. will they? doubtful. >> i guess that's the question. you don't have to be a math genius to look at the numbers and see they need to make some changes, but take a listen to rush limbaugh talking on his radio show about this very topic. >> don't tell me the republican party doesn't have outreach. we do. but what are we supposed to do now? are we supposed to -- in order to get the hispanic or latino vote, does that mean open the borders and embrace the illegals? is >> i guess the question a lot of more moderate republicans are asking, victoria, or does there have to be a seismic shift? are there small adjustments that can be made? what's your take on it? >> i think there are small adjustments that can be made, something as simple as coming out in support of the d.r.e.a.m.

act. again, remember, mitt romney said he would have vetoed the d.r.e.a.m. act. and quite frankly, chris, i'm puzzled by that resistance in the republican party to immigration reform even though it's not full comprehensive because it makes business sense. by including more folks in this country, you bring them out of the shadows, you're expanding the tax base, you can account for these people, you can help resolve some of the problems we're going to have with social security. it just doesn't make business sense. and we know that there is a wing of the republican party, the jeb bushes for example, that highlight this rationale, and the question is we're at a fork in the road. is the republican party going to be out there? >> not only where we are now, but if you look ahead four years to where the latino population is going to be, look at these three states. msnbc's chuck todd says georgia, texas, and arizona -- all because they have booming latino populations -- could be in play in 2016. here's what san antonio mayor julio castro said on morning joe today. >> we're going to see more and

more democratic candidates get elected to local races, county races, for instance here in the baer county, san antonio area, for the first time in a long time we saw a 32-county region elect three democrats out of five folks that were up. at the statewide level it's going to take a little bit longer. i would say the next six to eight years. >> goldie, if there is an adjustment, it's not an adjustment by the republican party, are latinos going to define what it is to be a battleground state here? >> i think they are going to define it. i'm from georgia, and we're seeing the population grow exponentially cycle over cycle, and 2016 with the minorities accounted for 1 in 4 voters in this electorate in georgia this year. they were primarily voting for barack obama. you're going to see in 2016 they're going to make a real difference in georgia. you're going to see it in arizona. it might take a little bit longer in texas, but texas is the last mega state that has a bona fide republican majority. if they lose it, they've got to

question whether or not they're going to be a national party going forward. >> goldie taylor, victoria desoto, good to see both of you. thank you. today's tweet of the day comes from msnbc analyst jonathan alter on the latino vote. "obama will get immigration reform and sew up the latino vote for a generation. the gop can't stop him without going extinct." plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our teams have the information you want when you need it. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. to start her own interior design business. she's got a growing list of clients she keeps in touch with using e-mail marketing from constantcontact.com. constantcontact is easy and affordable.

it lets her send out updates and photos that showcase her expertise and inspire her customers for only $15 a month. [ dog barking ] her dream -- to be the area's hottest interior design office. [ children laughing ] right now, she just dreams of an office. get a free trial at constantcontact.com.

president obama is the lame duck congress now have less than two months to hammer out a deal to avoid $6.2 billion in drastic automatic spending cuts to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. >> there are spending cuts coming -- defense companies, construction, they may very well have to lay off workers. in addition, we've got the highest tax increase coming on virtually all economic levels. these two things will coincide to basically possibly push the u.s. economy into recession unless congress does something about it. >> wow.

richard lui is here. we've been talking about what no deal would mean and the consequences could be dire. >> yes, chris. the fiscal cliff clock ticks on. 53 days to go. if january 1st arrives and washington fails to compromise, experts warn of an economic cataclysm. by the end of next year, unemployment could jump to 1.9% said the congressional budget office. that's almost 2 million more people without jobs. the economy would tumble at a rate similar to 2008's great recession. as much as 4% says goldman sachs. the average household's taxes would rise $3,500, all but a tenth of u.s. households would pay higher taxes. to stop that from happening, washington needs to stop what appears to be good, a plan forged over the last two years to reduce the deficit. at the base of what's being called a drastic plan, letting bush-era tax cuts expire. that leaves $221 billion in the government covers. as i mentioned, at the cost of

higher taxes for almost everyone. what's being called sequestration, that reduces costs by $65 billion. those mandatory cuts to defense and to general spending include items like education and veterans benefits. a third cost reduction, the payroll tax holiday, that expires. $95 billion is saved there. finally, the other category here on top, that includes a mix of emergency employment benefits, health care and tax cuts, and benefits. all of those end. that saves the largest chunk. if all of that happens, next year's deficit improves $607 billion. the deficit would go down almost 40%, but it's only good on paper. it would come at a price, a great price that the economy would basically go over, as you saw, a fiscal cliff. and the paradox here, chris, despite reducing the deficit here, the plan cuts provoke recession, higher unemployment, and a cut in the u.s. credit rating perhaps. >> i'm not going to sleep tonight. thank you, richard lui.

that's going to wrap it up for this hour of jansing and company. i'm chris jansing. thomas roberts is up next. ♪ with a low national plan premium... ♪ ...and copays as low as one dollar... ♪ ...saving on your medicare prescriptions is easy. ♪ so you're free to focus on the things that really matter. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. or go to walmart.com for details.

at legalzoom, we've created a better place to turn for your legal matters. maybe you want to incorporate a business you'd like to start. or protect your family with a will or living trust. legalzoom makes it easy with step-by-step help when completing your personalized document -- or you can even access an attorney to guide you along. with an "a" rating from the better business bureau legalzoom helps you get personalized and affordable legal protection. in most states, a legal plan attorney is available with every personalized document to answer any questions. get started at legalzoom.com today. and now you're protected.